Quinton HitaActor, Producer

Quinton Hita's broadcasting career has included stints as DJ, writer, actor and producer. His abilities in te reo first took Hita to radio, then a gig co-presenting TV's Mai Time. He went on to act in Crooked Earth and Shortland Street, where he also did time as a writer and Māori script editor. These days head of Kura Productions, Hita has produced many shows for Māori Television — plus his first feature, reggae tale Mt Zion.

For me, Māori television is the most exciting recent development in the New Zealand television industry. The advent of MTS has made it viable for someone like myself, who has come up through the ranks and been committed to Māori programming for over a decade, to set up and manage his own production company.